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Philp was brought up in West Wickham, close to the border of Bromley and Croydon, where his mother, Edna (née Mynott) was a primary school teacher and his father, Dr Brian Philp MBE FSA, an archaeologist.[citation needed] In 2014, his father stood as a UKIP candidate for the Hayes and Coney Hall Ward in the Bromley Council Elections.[2] Philp was educated at a state primary school in West Wickham, St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, and then at University College, Oxford, graduating with a first class bachelor's degree in physics. He then completed a master's degree in theoretical quantum mechanics.[citation needed]

Philp worked for McKinsey and Company before co-founding distribution business Blueheath Holdings, in 2000, which was listed on the AIM before being acquired in a reverse merger by Booker Cash & Carry[3][4]

He joined forces with Sam Gyimah, from 2010 a Conservative MP, to found Clearstone Training and Recruitment Limited, a HGV training provider[5] which went into liquidation in 2007 owing nearly £4 million pounds. [6]

Philp also founded property development lender Pluto Finand (UK) LLP and Moreof Silverstone, both registered in Jersey and the charity Next Big Thing, a business plan competition for inner-city teenagers which was dissolved in 2016 owing to insufficient funds. [4]

Philp was voted London's Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young and The Times in 2003,[7] alongside being voted the CBI's Entrepreneur of the Future, 2005. In 2005, Philp was listed as one of the UK's top 50 entrepreneurs by startups.co.uk,[8]

Philp was Chairman of the Bow Group, a Conservative Party think tank, from 2004 to 2005, and then took a month off work to act as a key adviser to Andrew Lansley, then Shadow Secretary of State for Health, in the national campaign against MRSA in the run up to the 2005 general election. Philp defeated the Labour Leader of Camden Council to be become a Councillor in the Gospel Oak ward of Camden in May 2006 with a swing of over 10%, the first Conservative to win the ward in over 20 years.

In a 2008 interview with The Guardian, about his views of being a candidate, he said, "10 years ago I wouldn't have voted Tory myself". In the 2010 general election, he was the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, losing by 42 votes to the Labour's sitting MP Glenda Jackson and increasing the Conservative vote share of the vote by nearly 10 percentage points compared to the previous election.[9][10]

Philp's book Conservative Revival: Blueprint for a Better Britain was published in conjunction with the Bow Group and was co-authored by 10 Conservative MP's or recent candidates in their 30s. The book was an important contribution to the modernisation of the Conservative Party, with a foreword written by David Cameron, the then Leader of the Opposition. Philp was also the author of "Work for the Dole: A proposal to fix welfare dependency", published by The Taxpayers' Alliance in September 2013. His report called for mandatory participation in community work and training in return for the continued payment of benefits payments.[11]

In November 2013, Philp was selected to be the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Croydon South, the seat was held by the Conservative MP Richard Ottaway, who was retiring at the next general election. On 8 May 2015, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Croydon South, and with a majority of over 17,000; the highest achieved in the constituency for over 20 years. The constituency was among the party's safest seats in Greater London.[12]

Shortly after being elected to Parliament, Philp became the first of the 2015 Conservative intake to be elected by other MPs to the influential Treasury Select Committee.[13]

Philp is an outspoken critic of Govia Thameslink Railway's ownership of Southern Rail, the performance of which he has described as "abysmal". Philp has called for the Government to take control of the Southern Rail franchise and for cross-party support in ending disputes between Southern Rail and the RMT Union.[14] He proposed a bill to ban 'unreasonable' strikes while speaking in Parliament.[15]

Philp has called for corporate rules to be changed to give shareholders more control over company directors' appointments and pay.[16][17]

In May 2016, when debating the Government's Starter Homes Initiative, Philp was accused by housing charities of failing to understand how a couple buying a house for the first time cannot afford a £10,000 deposit. Responding to criticism, he stated 'No one says it is easy, the average age of a first time buyer these days is about 30 so people have 10 years to save £5,000.'[19]

Following the 2017 General Election, Philp was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to HM Treasury Ministers.[20] Philp was made PPS to Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for the Ministry Housing, Communities and Local Government on 22 January 2018.[21]